


Artron Displacement

by BittyBlueEyes



Series: Eleven and His Rose [8]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Multi-Era, Multiple Doctors (Doctor Who)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-21
Updated: 2015-08-28
Packaged: 2018-04-16 13:07:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4626393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BittyBlueEyes/pseuds/BittyBlueEyes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In an attempt to save the universe from a crippling time disturbance, the Doctor becomes incapacitated. It's up to Rose to fix everything... but she'll get more help than she expected. --After Part 1, the series can be read in any order.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

‘The Museum of London… Backstage Pass,’ thought Rose. That was one thing in traveling with the Doctor that was almost always guaranteed: whenever there was something fascinating to see, they were granted a closer look. However, this part of traveling could also be somewhat dull. The Doctor was attracted to museums. Rose liked museums, too, but after viewing a few hundred, they started to lose their appeal.

Rose looked around the large back room. There were several tables lined up, each covered with an assortment of artifacts. The next day, the museum was opening a temporary exhibit of Pre-Spanish Era Artifacts concentrating on pottery and gold works. Accepted as specialists with orders to inspect the collection, the Doctor and Rose were immediately shown to the back room. The museum curator was enthusiastically pointing out the prized pieces of the collection to the Doctor who seemed equally excited. After the sixth piece, Rose wandered ahead to have a look on her own. They weren’t there to see it all. They were looking for one thing in particular.

Just a few tables ahead of them, Rose found what they were seeking. It was a small gold sphere supported by three thick, tiny legs. Its sides were decorated with circular, decorative carvings and a red oval stone covered its top. The entire sphere could easily be held in her cupped hands. Rose bent over to get a better look. It was stunning, but it didn’t look out of place to her. She was expecting to see some sort of language on it, anything that would suggest it didn’t belong here, but it didn’t look suspicious to her at all. She wondered what the Doctor saw that she didn’t.

“I found it, Doctor,” she announced.

“Excellent!” he said with a grin. “Any unusual marks?”

“Not that I can see.” Rose tilted it back to get a look at the bottom and it suddenly started vibrating in her fingers. “Doctor…”

“Shh,” the Doctor hushed her. “Something just… What just…?”

“Something just happened. This thing just-“ Rose stopped talking when she looked up and saw what the Doctor was concerned about. The curator stood mid-step next to the Doctor, completely unmoving. They both looked around and found two more employees stopped halfway through a motion. “Doctor… Please tell me this isn’t my fault.”

“Why? What did you do?” the Doctor finally walked over to her and looked at the ornament in her hand.

“I touched it and it vibrated. The stone on top opened like it’s on a hinge, and then everyone stopped. Please tell me that’s a coincidence.”

“Try putting it down.”

Rose set it back on the table, but nothing happened. “It was me, wasn’t it? Do you know what it is?”

“I haven’t a clue. I just knew it didn’t belong in this collection. The designs and the way the stone is set didn’t belong in that era and if it was found in that archeological site, then someone or something was there that shouldn’t have been,” he explained.

“Yeah, but loads of people must have touched it. Archeologists and the people that restored it. Why did it do something when I touched it?” she asked anxiously.

“Oh… That’s a very good question with a very bad answer,” the Doctor responded with dread.

“You don’t mean…”

“It only responds at the touch of a time traveler.”

“Like Time Lord or Dalek stuff. It doesn’t look like either of them. What is it?”

“I have no idea, but I think we should find out.” The Doctor picked up the small spherical box and started for the door. When they exited the back room and walked into the museum, Rose felt even more miserable. Absolutely everyone in the museum was frozen in place and so were the people she saw out the windows.

“How many people were affected by this?” Rose asked the Doctor. When she opened the door, it didn’t close behind her. Time hadn’t just stopped for people; it was everything. It takes a second for a door to swing shut. As fast as car engines work, the motions still take time. Time was paused. Nothing moved accept them or things they manipulated.

Once outside, Rose saw that not one single person was moving and every car was stopped. The eerie silence caused Rose to shiver.

“I have no idea how far this spreads, but my guess is the entire planet.”

“The whole planet?!” Rose was feeling more miserable by the second.

“Well, all but a few. Anyone with artron energy should be moving around like us.”

“That really doesn’t make me feel any better.”

They arrived at the TARDIS and the Doctor snapped his fingers to open the door, but nothing happened. “Well, that’s not good.”

“The TARDIS has loads of artron energy. She shouldn’t be having any trouble, right?”

“You try,” the Doctor suggested.

Rose snapped her fingers and it opened. She looked at it curiously and then entered. The moment the Doctor tried to follow, the door slammed shut.

“Doctor?” Rose called through the door.

“Come back out. Looks like we’re not going to be able to ask the TARDIS for help.”

Rose went back outside and stared at the round, golden box in confusion. “That thing is so powerful that the TARDIS won’t let it inside?”

“Appears so.”

“So what do we do?”

“Well, if you don’t mind, I’d like to go inside and see what I can find out. Think you could hold this for me?”

Rose was reluctant to take the ornament back, but did as he asked. The Doctor rushed into the TARDIS and a shiver ran through Rose as she was left alone in the eerie silence. The only sound to be heard was her breathing. There wasn’t even a whisper of wind. The whole world was still and in that stillness Rose could even hear her own heartbeat. Rose turned her attention back to the gold ornament and took a moment to examine it again. The stone on top was lifted like a lid and she had a peek inside, but there wasn’t anything to see. There was just a small rectangular hollow spot. She had expected to see some kind of mechanics, but there was nothing.

The Doctor reappeared looking overwhelmed. “Nothing.”

“What does that mean?”

“I can’t look up anything outside of this date. I tried to connect to the time vortex, but I couldn’t. I even tried to fly into the time vortex, but it’s not possible. Time has stopped. It’s not just Earth. Time through the entire universe has stopped.”

At first Rose was angry that he tried to fly off without her, but any thoughts concerning that vanished at the utterly horrifying news that she had broken time itself.

“So what do we do? How do we fix this? Could we just break this thing? Would that work?” she asked frantically.

“We couldn’t chance that. If we broke it and it didn’t fix this mess, we’d have no way of repairing it at all. It’s a weapon that freezes time using artron energy. What if we just take that energy away from it?”

“Can we do that?”

“Only one way to find out…” The Doctor took the artifact back into his hands, closed his eyes in concentration, and slowly breathed in. As he pulled in a breath, Rose watched as visible blue energy streamed from the little box into the Doctor’s mouth.

The sound of chatter and blaring car horns startled Rose and she quickly looked around. Everyone was moving again. Car engines were running like they’d never stopped and conversations continued like there had been no pause.

“It worked,” she said in amazement. “It actually worked! Doctor-“

Rose’s smile fell away. The Doctor hadn’t moved. His eyes were still closed and his lips were slightly parted. The artifact was still open in his hands. Whatever had halted time, was now stopping the Doctor.

Rose gripped the sides of her head as she tried to think. What was she supposed to do? She had absolutely no idea what to do. She needed help, but the only one that she knew could help was the Doctor… who couldn’t.

She wanted to go into the TARDIS to do research and see what she could find, but she didn’t want to just leave the Doctor outside. He absorbed whatever energy was in the box, so she was certain that the TARDIS wouldn’t let him in. Even if she would, Rose would have to leave the spherical box outside unprotected. If someone were to take it…

She needed help, but she had no idea where to turn. And then a thought occurred to her.

“Oh, please be alright,” Rose told the Doctor. “I’ll be _right_ back out.”

Rose rushed into the TARDIS and appeared less than two minutes later with her mobile to her ear.

“Sarah Jane? Sarah Jane, this is Rose Tyler. We have a problem.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately, I have not watched The Sarah Jane Adventures. This story takes place just before that time. My apologies if something in the story doesn't match up with the show.

Rose finished parking the TARDIS in the back garden of 13 Bannerman Road and rushed to the front of the house to impatiently wait for Sarah-Jane to arrive in her car. She couldn’t take the Doctor or the spherical box into the TARDIS, but with a little work, she and Sarah-Jane were able to maneuver the Doctor into the back seat of Sarah-Jane’s car.

Sarah-Jane had been extremely surprised to hear from Rose, but also very relieved. Having artron energy in her own body from time traveling, she had not been affected by the time stop. She had seen everyone effected by it and it was reassuring to hear that she was not alone.

When Sarah-Jane finally arrived, the two women awkwardly carried the Doctor inside and placed him on the couch in the living room.

“So these are your readings?” Rose asked as she stared up at Sarah-Jane’s super computer, Mr. Smith.

“Yes. See, here at the beginning, it’s two minutes before it started and goes to two minutes following. It goes from average activity to absolutely nothing at all. If you cut out the stopped time, the beginning activity and restarted activity appear as if there’d been no stop. No one knows that anything happened. And the very second it came back, the Doctor froze?”

“Yeah. I really don’t know what to make of this. I don’t know the best place to start, but I think I’m going to try figuring out more about the uses of artron energy,” Rose said decisively.

“I’ll see what I can learn from Mr. Smith.”

“Thanks. I’ll keep coming in to check on the Doctor.”

“I’ll do the same.”

Rose started down the staircases en route to the TARDIS when she heard a knock at the front door. She ran back up the stairs, shouting for Sarah-Jane.

The knocking continued as they walked down the stairs together and Sarah-Jane shouted out, “I’m coming! Just a second!”

“Are you expecting anyone?” Rose whispered.

“No.”

“Best I stay hidden then.” Rose stopped on the staircase, two steps from the bottom.

Sarah-Jane opened the door and was greeted with a cheerful, “Hello!”

“Hello. Can I help you?” Sarah-Jane replied uncertainly. She quickly looked over the man in front of her, from his black boots to his leather jacket then to his short, dark hair. When she finally looked at the young blond woman with him, she stared in shock.

“Yes, I hope you can. I’m looking for the Doctor,” the man stated with a big smile still in place.

“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I can’t let you in. I’d be glad to speak with you outside though… alone,” Sarah-Jane said with as pleasant a smile as she could manage.

“No, see, I’m looking for the Doctor,” the Doctor repeated.

“I understand, but I can’t let you in. If we could talk alone out here for a moment, I-“

“I’m sorry, but you _don’t_ understand. I need in there and I’m only so patient.”

“Yes, you’ve always been impatient, Doctor, but you can’t just go breaking down my door.”

“I’m sorry, but I can.” The Doctor pushed her aside so he and Rose could enter.

“Doctor!” Sarah-Jane stormed in after him and stepped in front of him. “Really, Doctor?! Do you really not recognize me? I may have aged some, but after all the times we had, you can’t recognize me?”

The Doctor finally looked at her properly and he stared in astonishment. “Sarah-Jane?”

“Yes. And I say – How dare you! Pushing me aside and breaking into my house? I know it’s been a long time, but I thought you might respect me enough to at least let me talk to you before I let you in.”

“What about me?” asked another voice. Everyone turned to look at another man that appeared in the doorway. “Well, I suppose I’m as rude as this one here. I’ll see myself in. Now… If you don’t mind, I’m looking for the Doctor.”

“And who are you?” the Doctor asked.

“Oh, you don’t recognize _me_ either? How rude can you be? Anyway, I’m looking for the Doctor.”

“I’m the Doctor,” the Doctor declared.

The man laughed and patted the Doctor on the chest. “Not you, big fella. I’m looking for the other one.”

The Doctor had pushed the man’s hand aside and glared. “Who are you?”

“Oh, I don’t think so. You already know me. You know me very, very well. If you want to hear my name, you’ll have to say it yourself. Wait a second… do I know you?” the man asked when he caught sight of young Rose. Rose glared at him and stepped back. “No, no, not there yet.”

“I’m not playing games. Name yourself,” the Doctor said severely.

“Name yourself,” the man mocked. “Loosen up. It might not be a game to you, but it is to me. It doesn’t matter to me if you get it right; I’m not interested in you. I want the other Doctor. Oh… but perhaps the game can be played by someone else.” The man grinned when he caught sight of Rose peeking around the staircase.

The Doctor caught sight of her, too. He looked down at his young Rose and promptly shoved her into the kitchen.

“Doctor! Doctor, what are you doing?!” young Rose demanded as she pounded on the door. The Doctor had sonic’ed the lock.

“I’m sorry, Rose. Really, I am, but you have to stay in there. Calm down.”

The man pounded on the door. “Yes, Rose, do shut up. The big people are trying to have a chat.”

When Rose stopped pounding, the man turned back to the rest of the room and clapped his hands together. “It’s okay, over there. You can come out now. The other one’s locked up. Please, please, do come out.”

Rose stepped out of the staircase and stared at the man with a cold expression.

“Oh, yes. You are definitely the one I was looking for. Well, aside from the Doctor,” he said dismissively. “Yes, yes, I’ve so hoped I’d get to meet you. Bad Wolf,” he drew out the name dramatically.

“Bad Wolf?” the Doctor worried.

“Hush you.” The man waved him off and kept his attention on Rose. “Bad Wolf. I am _such_ a big fan. I’m not just saying that. The power you’ve got, the things you’ve done – awe inspiring. Oh, what I would give to steal you for myself. I’d ask, but I don’t take rejection well. I already know how loyal you are to this buffoon,” he said as he gestured toward the Doctor. “Alright, Bad Wolf, I’ve named you. Name me. Let me hear you say it.”

“Koschei,” Rose said stiffly.

“Oh, no. No, no, no.” He shook his head in disappointment. “I addressed you by your title. It’s only polite to address me by mine.”

“You don’t deserve it,” Rose claimed.

“Ouch, you wound me,” he said in mock distress. He turned to the Doctor. “I blame you completely. Her arrogance is delightful, but she’s so self-righteous. Anyway, she gave you the biggest hint there is. Want to name me now?”

“The Master,” the Doctor said darkly.

“Yes! I do so love it when you say my name. You recognize me for what I really am,” the Master said gleefully. “Games and introductions are done though. Time to grab the proper Doctor. Judging by the way this one’s protectively standing in front of the living room, my guess would be there.”

Sarah-Jane put her arms out to block his path. He looked up when he saw that Rose had her Doctor’s sonic screwdriver pointed at him. He turned around to see the Doctor with his own sonic screwdriver out.

“Sonic screwdrivers? Really? Do you never upgrade? See, now this…” the Master took out his laser screwdriver. “This is a real multi-tool. Everything yours can do, but can also do things such as burn holes through just about anything, including wood, and has a laser that can kill anything with one shot. Would you like a demonstration?”

He pointed the laser screwdriver at Sarah-Jane and watched as Rose and the Doctor stepped back and lowered their sonic screwdrivers.

“That’s better,” he said. He motioned for Sarah-Jane to move, but she stood steadfast. He pushed his laser screwdriver against her stomach. “Do you really want to play with me? Unlike the rest of us, you can’t regenerate. Do you really want to die?”

“Get back, Sarah-Jane,” Rose said as she rushed past her. Rose stood in front of the couch, guarding her Doctor where he lay helpless.

“Oh, don’t worry,” said the Master as he moved to stand in front of Rose. “I’m not going to do anything to him just yet. I haven’t made my demands yet. Very simple. Here goes: I want a TARDIS. Someone hands over the key and lets me hop off in a TARDIS and I get the Doctor out of this state without destroying time. And there it is. So… anyone have a TARDIS key? Bad Wolf? Want to hand over yours? This is your Doctor here. Do you want me to leave him like this… or worse?”

“I don’t have a key,” she plainly stated.

“No key? You really ex-“

“I don’t. And neither does my Doctor. We don’t use keys anymore.”

“Well, that’s interesting. If that’s the case, you’ll just have to show me how to get in.”

Rose shook her head.

“Alright then, what about you, Doctor? This is your future you’re looking at. You could fly off now if you want, but this here on the sofa is where you’ll eventually end up.”

“Not a chance,” said the Doctor.

“Should I go ask the little girl in the kitchen? I could be wrong, but my guess is that she keeps it on that chain around her neck. Such a teen thing to do.”

The Doctor grabbed the Master by the collar of his oxford shirt. “You don’t touch her.”

“Alright, alright. No need to get violent.” The Master laughed as he pulled the Doctor’s hand away. “Aw, you wrinkled my shirt. Well, you all had your chance. When you change your minds, look me up. And good luck.”

The Master walked over to the coffee table and picked up the gold artifact. When he turned around, he saw two sonic screwdrivers pointed at him again.

The Master wore a smirk and shook his head. “Sonic screwdrivers…”

He transferred his laser screwdriver to his other hand. It was difficult to manage because the artifact was under that arm, but he still kept it pointed at them. With his free hand, he reached in his pocket. The device he held was miniscule, but they feared what it might do. Rose lunged for the Master, but she was too late. The Master pressed the button and the Doctor that was on the couch was gone.

“What did you do with him?!” Rose demanded.

“Oh, If I told-“

His speech was cut off when she punched him in the face. She tried to take the device, but the Master kicked her in the stomach. When she looked up, the Master was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

“Damn it!” Rose shouted the second the Master disappeared. She put her head in her hands as she tried to calm herself down and think. It wasn’t doing any good. Her mind was buzzing and she couldn’t pull her thoughts together. Her Doctor was helpless in the hands of the Master.

“I don’t know what to do. I can’t think,” Rose said helplessly. “It was him. It had to be him the whole time. I have no idea what he’s going to do to him. I can’t think.”

“It might be helpful if someone could explain to me what just happened,” the Doctor said crossly. “I’m walking down the street and everyone stops. Time starts again and I track a TARDIS here to find this mess. Future Rose, Sarah-Jane, future me, and the Master. What the hell just happened?!”

“You act like we intended this,” Rose replied irritably. “We didn’t just call a time traveler conference. I think the Master drew us here. I think he baited my Doctor for this stupid plan of his.”

“You think he planted that thing in the museum?” asked Sarah-Jane.

“He had to. How else would he have found us so quickly? He must have been waiting.”

“I said I’d like an explanation,” the Doctor said heatedly.

Rose sighed. “The Doctor loves visiting museums. We were scanning through exhibits that we might want to visit and he came across one for Pre-Spanish Era Artifacts. The featured treasures were cover artwork and the Doctor said there was something wrong. One of them didn’t fit in, so we went to check it out. He asked me if there were any strange markings so I tipped it back to have a look at the bottom and time stopped. It was activated by my artron energy.

“The TARDIS wouldn’t let us take it in to analyze it. He tried to take the artron energy back out, but he must have taken in whatever element stopped time because then _he_ stopped. I couldn’t take him in the TARDIS and I couldn’t take the artifact either. I didn’t know who to call for help and then I thought of Sarah-Jane. And really, I can’t thank you enough,” she said ardently to Sarah-Jane.

“How do you know Sarah-Jane?” asked the Doctor.

“We’ve met before. Actually, only two weeks ago for me. Much longer for her, I imagine.” Sarah-Jane looked at Rose for confirmation and she nodded.

“Here’s this one: how the hell is the Master still alive?” The Doctor still spoke severely, aiming all his questions at Rose. “He was supposed to have died in the Time War.”

“He ran away in the last days. Maybe earlier. He might like war and destruction, but not when he’s losing. He left the war before the time lock. He went to the year 100 trillion so he wouldn’t be found and hid there using a chameleon arch. When the watch was opened, the time war had already been time-locked.”

“I fight him between then and your point in time.” It wasn’t a question, but a prompt.

“Yes. He takes over the Earth in the near future, but you stop him.”

“What did I do to him? Did I imprison him somewhere or-“

“He died. He was shot by a woman named Lucy Saxon.”

“You mean he regenerated?”

“No. I don’t fully understand it because I wasn’t there, but he let himself die without regenerating just to piss you off.”

“So if he died, why-“

“We’re supposed to be saving my Doctor, not telling your future.”

“But I need to know!”

“No, you don’t. You’ll find out when you’re supposed to. The whole point is that he’s back and he’s got the Doctor,” Rose said seriously. “We’ve got to figure out how to go about this. Do we worry about the artron energy first or finding him first?”

The Doctor stood silently glaring at her.

“Please don’t do this,” Rose pleaded. “I don’t know why you’re so upset with me. I’m trying to save you. You’re the only thing that means anything to me and I need to get you back. How can you be upset with me for that?”

“How do I know that I can trust you?” he asked seriously.

Rose stared at him in shock. “Why would you think you couldn’t? You’ve never doubted me before.”

“The Master says he’s a big fan. Talks about your power and the things you’ve done. What power and just what have you done? What is this whole Bad Wolf thing?” he challenged her.

Rose looked away. She wasn’t sure what she should say. He’d accepted that she stole time energy when it happened because he understood the situation. If she told him now that she did, that she committed genocide without a second thought and with just the wave of her hand, she doubted he would understand.

“How can you treat her like that?” asked Sarah-Jane. “If you were listening to the Master, he also said that he knew she was completely loyal to you. Obviously, you know what Bad Wolf is in the future and you still have her with you. And all she’s trying to do is save you. How can you doubt her?”

“Fine,” said the Doctor.

“Before we start getting deep in discussion, do you think you could let me out of the kitchen?” Rose asked as she pointed in that direction. Her younger self had been pleading through the door for the last five minutes.

The Doctor looked flustered. “If I ask her to go back to the TARDIS, there’s no way she’ll listen.”

“Of course she won’t. Just let her out. She’s not going to remember any of this,” said Rose.

“Time is already fragile. We’ve got enough to worry about without creating any paradoxes,” the Doctor said moodily.

“I learned from the first time and I’ve met myself after that. We both know better than to touch each other. You can’t keep her locked up forever. She’s going to hate you for this already.”

The Doctor rolled his eyes and went to go get Rose from the kitchen. In the living room, Rose and Sarah-Jane laughed. They could hear young Rose telling him off and whacking him. She stopped suddenly and they assumed the Doctor was explaining.

When they entered the living room, young Rose stared at her older self in astonishment. Older Rose waved.

“You’re me? You’re really me from the future?”

“Yeah, and I really wish I could be pleasant, but I’m really uptight and I apologize if I come off as cold. It’s just, the Master’s got the Doctor and we’ve got to get him back.”

“That man who came in, that’s the Master?” When they affirmed, she continued. “But the guy asked for the Doctor and said this one’s not the right Doctor. How’d he know which one was the right one?”

“She doesn’t know?” Sarah-Jane asked heatedly. “You haven’t told her? Don’t you learn? Don’t you realize how hard it is for people to cope with regeneration when you don’t warn them first?”

“What? What don’t I know? What hasn’t he said?” young Rose worried.

No one spoke for a minute and young Rose looked from one person to the next before demanding an answer again.

“You’re really not going to tell her? I always tried to tell myself that you didn’t think about it, but even when she’s asking you won’t?” older Rose asked as she shook her head. “Fine. You know he’s centuries old, yeah? Well, he doesn’t live that all in one life. The thing is, Time Lords don’t die. Well, there are circumstances when they can, but let’s not worry about that. When a Time Lord starts dying, a process called regeneration starts. This glowing energy radiates off of them, all old cells die, and new cells are created. The thing is, the new cells aren’t like the old ones. Brand new makeup. A Time Lord body dies and he’s replaced by a new man. Same person with the same memories, but different face, different voice, different style, and different mannerisms.

“The reason the Master knew your Doctor wasn’t the right Doctor is because in the future, my time, he looks different. Likewise, the Doctor didn’t recognize the Master, because the Master had regenerated.”

“Wait, so you’re saying that while we’re traveling with him, he dies and becomes a new person?” young Rose asked in horror.

“Sort of like a new person. He’s very different, but he’s still the Doctor,” said Sarah-Jane.

“How different?” young Rose worried.

Older Rose looked at the Doctor and then at Sarah-Jane.

“If she’s going to help us, she should know what he looks like,” Sarah-Jane reasoned.

Older Rose took out her mobile, scanned through some pictures then set it down on the coffee table for the other Rose to see.

“Oh god, he’s absolutely different.” Young Rose looked completely overwhelmed.

“It’s okay,” said older Rose. “It’s hard to come to terms with it at first, but he’s still the Doctor and you’ll love him the same.”

Young Rose nodded as she tried to take it all in. “But if this Master can regenerate, too…”

“He’s a Time Lord, too,” Sarah-Jane explained. “He’s power hungry and cruel. He and the Doctor have a very bad history.”

“But I thought you said all the Time Lords were gone,” young Rose addressed the Doctor.

“I thought they all were. The one that escaped was the only one that deserved that fate,” the Doctor replied miserably. “That brings about another question though. Why can’t I feel him? If there are any Time Lords out there, I should know.”

“Oh no, it’s 2007…” Rose realized. “The Archangel Network must already be in place. It’s got a signal that can hide him from you. There’s more than one way to find him though. The TARDIS can track all living beings on the planet. You can specify the search for those with binary vascular systems.”

“It sounds like that part can be figured out, but what about the artron energy and whatever was inside that little round box?” asked Sarah-Jane.

“It’s likely that the box, or whatever was inside, is feeding off of artron energy,” the Doctor answered. “The concern is, how much artron energy it’s consuming and how much artron energy your Doctor has. If it’s draining slowly, we have plenty of time. But if it’s draining him quickly, we’ll have to work much faster.”

“How do you know how much artron energy he has?” asked Sarah-Jane.

“Time Lords have the same base amount to start with after regeneration and it increases through the years as we time travel. Your Doctor, how-?”

“119 atto-Omegas,” said older Rose. “Give or take.”

“119 atto-Omegas?” the Doctor asked in confusion. “But that would mean that he’s-“

Rose quickly cut him off. “I know what it means and the answer is yes.”

“But you don’t know the question,” he argued.

“I do. I’d just rather not go into it,” Rose explained.

“What? Not go into what?” asked young Rose.

“The Doctor’s future is complicated and so is mine. I’d rather not go into details.”

“Doctor, what about you? What does that number mean?” young Rose pressed.

The Doctor was staring at older Rose with concern. Atto-Omegas were the unit of measurement for artron energy. 119 atto-Omegas meant that her Doctor already had 300 years in that incarnation. The reason Rose didn’t want to go into it was because that meant that he was traveling without her for a long time. She was quite right not to want to go into it. The young Rose he was with would not like to hear it.

“It just means he somehow got a lot more artron energy than I expected,” the Doctor explained. “And that’s good. It gives us more time. We still have to get a plan together quickly. We have to find a way to keep that thing from feeding off him. We either need to destroy it or put it back in the box.”

“Either will be quite difficult considering we don’t have either to examine,” Sarah-Jane commented.

“Where could the artifact have come from?” asked young Rose.

“Good question,” said the Doctor, “but if the Master planted it, it could be from anywhere in the universe.”

“What planets do you know of that use artron energy for power besides Skaro and Gallifrey?” asked older Rose.

“I’m sure there are a few, but the only ones I know to use it are the Cheetah People and the Panjistri.”

“Cheetah People? From the nameless planet you call Cheetah World? Wasn’t the Master there before? He went because of the artron energy, but later you marooned him there when the planet was breaking apart. Could this be an artifact from there?” asked older Rose.

“They did like shiny things and they did use artron energy to power things like teleports, but stop time? That’s far too advanced for them,” the Doctor disagreed.

“But if the Master had it and he’s a Time Lord, would he be able to modify it? Could he make it this time thing?” asked younger Rose.

“He wouldn’t have what he needed on Earth,” the Doctor said with a shake of his head.

“But what about on Gallifrey? Could he come up with something there?” asked older Rose.

“It would take a lot of work.”

“But what if made the plans before? Like a long time ago?” older Rose pressed.

“Then he would have used it long ago.”

“Maybe not. He was sent back to the last days of the Last Great Time War. What if he took what he needed before coming back?” she continued.

“You can’t travel to or from the Time War. It’s time-locked,” the Doctor said miserably.

She knew it was a difficult subject for him, but she couldn’t let it drop. “It was possible. There was a signal that linked the Master and Gallifrey. That’s how things finished with the two of you last time. He was sucked back into the Time War. The other link must still be here. It’s the only way I can think that he got back out. Regardless, he was there and he came back. Where else could he have gotten that box and the technology for it?”

The Doctor just stared at her, trying to take all of that in and piece together the details.

“Okay, so Cheetah People technology mixed with Gallifreyan,” Sarah-Jane reviewed. “Does that help you understand how it might work?”

“No… No, it doesn’t,” the Doctor said heavily.

“So what do we do?” asked young Rose.

“I don’t know yet! I’m thinking!” he snapped suddenly. Young Rose took a step back from him and he sighed. “I’m sorry… I just thought things were done with him. And now this mess. I’m trying to think.”

“What would happen if there was no artron energy for it to feed off of?” asked older Rose.

“The Master would kill him. He wouldn’t be able to regenerate. Time Lords can’t regenerate without artron energy,” he replied dejectedly.

“I’m not talking about the Doctor or the Master. I’m talking about the energy from the box. If it didn’t have artron energy to feed off of, what would it do?”

“Either attach itself to another artron energy source or go back in the box.”

“So if there was no artron energy at all, it’d have to go to the box?” older Rose checked.

The Doctor looked up at her suddenly. “You’re not suggesting…”

“Well… I don’t know. I don’t have any better ideas. If you do, I’d really rather use one of those, but-“

“You shouldn’t even know what I’m talking about.” He looked at her suspiciously. “Just how do you know all this stuff? Seems to me you know a lot more than you should.”

“What? What stuff? What’s your plan?” asked Sarah-Jane.

“You’re right. I know a lot more than you think I should, but now is not the time to go into that. Artron Inhibitor. If it’s a bad idea, then just say so. It’s the only idea I’ve got right now,” older Rose said curtly.

“Inhibitor like it blocks artron energy?” young Rose inquired.

“Drains,” the Doctor answered. “It doesn’t just block it, it drains it. We couldn’t regenerate and the TARDISs would completely shut down. If the Master wants a TARDIS, he’d just have to run in and wait until we turn the inhibitor turned off.”

“But he’d have to leave wherever he is to get here. We can have someone on standby in the TARDIS with the inhibitor. They turn it off before the Master gets there. The inhibitor might drain the energy, but it puts all of it back the second it’s turned off,” older Rose suggested.

“You’ve really thought this through, haven’t you?” asked the Doctor.

“No. I just think well on my feet. And you’ve called me clever since the day we met,” she nodded at her younger self, “why do I surprise you now?”

“So are we using this inhibitor then?” Sarah-Jane asked as she looked between the two of them.

“I don’t like it,” the Doctor said frankly. “I don’t like the idea of going up against the Master without the ability to regenerate… but I guess it’s the best plan we’ve got. Everyone to the TARDIS.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Alright,” said the Doctor once he, two Roses, and Sarah-Jane were gathered around the TARDIS console. “Perhaps now is a good time to have a search for the Doctor and the Master.”

“Well, that answers my question,” said older Rose.

“What question?” the Doctor inquired.

“I was wondering which of us should go find the inhibitor,” older Rose answered.

“What?” the Doctor said in disbelief. “That’s the stupidest question I’ve heard from you yet. This is my ship. I’m not letting anyone go dig through it.”

The Doctor scowled at her and walked off down the hall.

Older Rose smirked. “He’s so predictable.”

She immediately stepped up to the monitor and started typing.

“Wait. You shouldn’t touch that,” younger Rose advised. “He’s really serious about people touching his ship.”

“I know. He’s going to be pissed, but he’ll get over it. Not to mention, I love that look he gets when he’s offended. Oh, how I miss it. I miss him so much.” Older Rose continued typing, slowing only a second to scan through a couple lists.

“You’re really me?” asked young Rose while she watched her older self. “Because I have no idea what you’re doing. The Doctor never lets me touch anything, least not on my own.”

“I’m really you, and you’ll get there.”

“What are you doing?!” the Doctor roared as he rushed toward the console. He shoved a metal box into young Rose’s arms and pulled older Rose away from the monitor. “This is my ship! No one touches my ship! What if you had broken something? What if you…? Why are you smiling at me?!”

“Because you’re adorable,” older Rose answered. She glanced over at Sarah-Jane who was silently shaking with laughter.

“Adorable? _Adorable?_ I’m angry and you think… Just step away,” he ordered in exasperation.

Rose stepped back but still watched at his side. “I was almost there. You just need to zoom in to the London area to-“

“I’ve got it,” he said irritably. “Wait. There’s four here. There should only be three. Two Doctors and the Master.”

“Forget the one in the opposite corner,” Rose instructed. That was the reason that she wanted to do the search herself. She wanted to zoom in so he wouldn’t see.

“What do you mean-?”

“Complicated,” Rose said firmly.

“I don’t care how complicated it is. I want an explanation,” he said firmly.

“We’re crossing timelines. We leave that dot alone,” Rose insisted. They were in the year 2007, the campaign year for Harold Saxon. They weren’t allowed to interfere. Two Doctors, two Masters. She wondered what that Master might be thinking of the episode of stopped time. What he might think when his stolen TARDIS would lose its artron energy because of the inhibitor.

The Doctor sighed, but did as she asked and focused on the other part of the map.

“Oh god, no,” Rose breathed out in horror.

“What? It’s Canary Wharf. Just a business building there, isn’t it?” the Doctor said in confusion.

“People think that’s all it is, but it’s Torchwood Tower.”

“Torchwood? What’s that?” asked young Rose.

“The Torchwood Institute was founded in 1879 with the purpose of protecting the British Empire from aliens and to collect alien technology. I hear it started kind of innocent, but now… even if an alien isn’t a threat, they study them, torture them, and then dissect them. They have more alien technology than you can imagine and they work on figuring them out and putting them to use. Their motto is: If it’s alien it’s ours. Enemy number one: The Doctor. Of all the places in the world for him to be… Torchwood.” Rose was taking deep breaths, trying her best to pull herself together.

“Why is he enemy number one?” asked younger Rose.

“Me and the Doctor are the reason they were founded. We saved Queen Victoria from a werewolf. She knighted us for it and then banished us and created Torchwood to make sure we, or any other aliens, never returned.”

“Doesn’t sound like a very pleasant place,” Sarah-Jane commented.

“The absolute worst times of my life had to do with Torchwood,” Rose said blankly as she stared unseeingly in front of her.

“So how do we get in there?” asked the Doctor. “What’s the security like?”

“Tight,” said Rose. “We need badges and access codes. There are advanced metal detectors at the entrances. Psychic paper doesn’t work because all employees are required to have basic psychic training. And guards every- Oh god, it’s 2007… It’s April, isn’t it? What time in April?”

“April 12th,” Sarah-Jane declared. “Why? What are you worried about?”

Rose had her head in her hands and was trying to calm her spinning mind. Not only was this the year that the Master started campaigning for Prime Minister, it was the year Torchwood opened the void. 2007 was devastating.

“Big events are coming because of them. Bad, bad… Just very bad. In just a week or so, it starts. The catastrophe happens June 28th. Torchwood’s likely swarming with armed security guards right now in preparation. And when I say armed, I mean big guns.”

“Just how bad is it going to be?” Sarah-Jane worried. “I don’t time travel anymore. I’m going to be here for that. What happens?”

Older Rose was silent for a moment, trying to figure out how to reply. When Sarah-Jane demanded again, Rose quietly answered. “The death toll is horrifying. Worldwide. It’s awful… but you live. You survive it.”

“Is there anything we can do to stop it?” asked Sarah-Jane.

“No. The Doctor and I did what we could. We stopped it, but it happened fast and we couldn’t reverse what was done. I’m sorry, but we can’t dwell on that right now. We need to work on getting in there. I think I know someone who could help. Do you think you could trust me enough with the TARDIS to contact someone?”

The Doctor looked at her suspiciously. “Who is this someone?”

“What was your last adventure?” Rose asked just as warily.

“You married a caveman.”

Older Rose chuckled. “I forgot about that. I’ve got a husband I completely forgot about. He’s long dead so I guess I’m a widow. Anyway, yes I can tell you. It’s Jack. I thought you probably knew him at this point, but since he’s not here, I wasn’t sure.”

“He’s having a weekend on a pleasure planet. We were going to spend ours at amusement parks,” young Rose explained.

“You think Jack can get you into Torchwood?” the Doctor asked skeptically.

“Yeah. He works for Torchwood. Well, Torchwood Three, not Torchwood One. They’re both part of the Institute, but Jack’s in charge of Torchwood Three in Cardiff, which is very small, and he’s fair, not cruel. It’s his job to mainly monitor the rift.”

“Jack lives on Earth full time?” young Rose said in shock.

“Yeah. It’s been awhile, but I think he’d still help us out,” older Rose replied. “If someone would let me use the console…”

“You know, I could always do it myself,” the Doctor reminded her.

“No, you can’t. This is the future for you. There’s a lot you don’t know,” Rose countered. “If you’re really against giving me permission and privacy, I could always use the other TARDIS. And ha, ha, ha, you don’t know how to get in.”

“You were serious when you told the Master that you don’t use keys?” The Doctor gaped at her.

“It looks like there’s a keyhole, but it’s only decoration. Absolute truth. You jealous that I can get in and you can’t?” she playfully taunted. “Okay, done teasing. Really, can I use the console or do I have to use the other TARDIS?”

The Doctor groaned in frustration and stepped back to give Rose free reign. It took Rose more searching than expected, but she found the Jack Harkness in 2007 in Cardiff. And then she gave him a surprise he’d never expect.

“Jack?” She could imagine his look of confusion at receiving a text message on his vortex manipulator.

“Who is this?”

“Are you alone?”

“Who is this?”

Rose sighed. She didn’t want anyone else to see this. She didn’t want trouble and she didn’t want trouble for Jack either. “Bad Wolf”

There was a significant pause and Rose was becoming anxious. Finally she got a response. “I’m alone now.”

“No one can see these messages but you?”

“No one. You said bad wolf. Prove it.”

Rose thought about it a moment. “London Blitz to Game Station.”

“Our first and our last.”

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure what else to say.”

“So, Bad Wolf, I have a feeling that you’re not just looking to chat.”

“I’m sorry. I need help.”

“What can I do?”

“I need to get into Torchwood One.”

“That’s a hard one.”

“But can I do it? Can you help?”

“Just you?”

“Doctor, too.”

“Same face?”

“Yes, but time is out of order.”

“Yeah, I noticed.” Rose hadn’t even thought about it. Time had stopped around him, too.

“I’m trying to fix it.”

“I’ll see what I can do. Give me a few minutes. Standby.”

Rose turned to everyone in the room. “We’re on standby. He’s going to see what he can do to help.”

“In the meantime, it might be a good idea to try this inhibitor out,” the Doctor suggested.

“No, we don’t want to do it now!” older Rose panicked. “What if it wakes up my Doctor? We don’t know what kind of trouble he’s in yet. And we still need the TARDIS to-“

“Calm down. I mean to test it on me,” the Doctor explained. “I’m sure I can set it up to cover London and even its surrounding cities, but I can also fidget with it to aim it at just myself. So here goes.”

The Doctor quickly scanned himself and looked at his screwdriver. He then picked up the metal box, held a wire in one hand, and flipped the switch. “Huh… didn’t think of this part. How do I scan myself?”

Young Rose took his sonic from him and scanned him. The Doctor turned off the box, set it down on the jumpseat, and had a look at the results on his sonic.

“Zero.”

“So it works,” said Sarah-Jane. “But what about you _now_? Did you get it all back?”

The Doctor scanned himself again. “Yep! Just like the first scan, everything back.”

He scanned the TARDIS to confirm she wasn’t affected, then scanned his Rose and Sarah-Jane. When he got to older Rose, who was still waiting for Jack’s reply, his smile vanished.

“900…” he said darkly.

Older Rose looked up at him, having no idea what he was talking about.

“900,” he repeated.

“900 what?” she asked in confusion.

“Is something wrong?” asked Sarah-Jane.

“900 atto-Omegas.”

Older Rose’s breath caught and she took a step back. She wasn’t sure what she should say.

“You’re not Rose,” he accused. “What are you?”

“I’m Rose. I swear, I’m Rose Tyler. I know this looks wrong to you, but-“

“But nothing!” the Doctor seized her by the wrist so that she couldn’t step away again, but in her panic she fought to escape him.

“Let me go. You-“

“You’re probably in with the Master, aren’t you?” he demanded. He continued without giving her a chance to answer. “All this stuff you know about him, artron energy, artron inhibitors! You admitted that it was you that made time stop. What did you do to me?! The future me?!”

“It’s not like that! I’m Rose Tyler, I swear! I’m her,” Rose said as she pointed at her younger self. “There’s an explanation for the artron energy. If you could just stop a minute, I-“

The Doctor jerked her after him and stopped at the other side of the console near Sarah-Jane and young Rose. They were staring at her dumbfounded and older Rose felt humiliated. They all thought she was a villain.

The Doctor finished fishing under the console and pulled out a small electronic board with a film over it. He forced Rose’s hand down on it until the light turned red. He had forgotten the monitor on the other side of the console. He dragged Rose over there and dragged her back with the monitor.

“Rose, put your hand on here,” the Doctor instructed young Rose. She slowly stepped forward and did as he asked.

“So what’s this about then?” young Rose hesitantly asked. “Is she not really me?”

“I’ve got 73 atto-Omegas. Sarah-Jane has 4 and you have 3. This thing here has 900. No Time Lord has _ever_ gotten that high. If I lived 1,000 years in this body I’d only be at 280. The only creatures I’ve seen that could reach those kind of numbers are transcendental beings that actually live inside the time vortex.”

“There’s an explanation for that if you just listen to me,” Rose insisted.

“I’ve listened to you enough.” The Doctor sneered at her and typed one handed while he kept a tight hold on her. The two sets of DNA showed up on the monitor and he stared at them quizzically. They were identical. He turned to older Rose and glared. “Explain.”

Rose reached for the monitor, but he caught her arm and then held both wrists in the same hand.

“I was just trying to show you,” she said quietly, “that you didn’t turn on the view for the temporal scan.”

The Doctor turned it on and blinked in confusion. Both DNA scans were identical, except that the temporal scan revealed a third semitransparent strand of DNA in older Rose. He looked back at older Rose. He was still distrusting and suspicious, but his anger had slightly abated.

“Explain.”

“I _am_ Rose Tyler. She’s Rose Tyler before Bad Wolf and I’m Rose Tyler after.”

“And what is this Bad Wolf? Some kind of being that-“

“Can we talk privately?” she asked quietly. “Please?”

“Why?” asked young Rose. “If you’re my future, I want to know. We hear and see Bad Wolf messages everywhere. I want to know what it is.”

“And I don’t like to talk about it,” said older Rose. “Once I answer, you’ll want to know more. Life gets hard and I just don’t want you to have that yet. Yeah, you’ll have to forget all this, but I still can’t… I’ll tell you, Doctor, but please don’t make me tell her.”

The Doctor looked at her uncertainly, but then he nodded, dropped her wrists, and led the way down the hall. Only a short way in, he stopped and leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Rose stood against the wall across from him.

“So? Bad Wolf? Three strands of DNA? Where do you want to start?” the Doctor asked.

“I want to start by saying I really am Rose. Something happens in her near future, _your_ near future. It’s big and you activated Emergency Programme One. You were going to die and you sent me home. I couldn’t accept that. I _didn’t_ accept that. I became the Bad Wolf. I looked into the heart of the TARDIS and absorbed the energy of the time vortex.”

“The energy of the time vortex?” he said in horror. “You can’t do that. You can’t-“

“I did. And that’s where the artron energy came from - the time vortex. 900 atto-Omegas is just leftover radiation from the complex energy I took in. I used that power to pilot the TARDIS back to you to save you. With a wave of my hand, I destroyed an entire fleet of Daleks. I divided their atoms and they turned to dust. Half a million Daleks and all their ships. The energy was returned to the vortex, but neither of us realized that Bad Wolf changed me.

“You never think to use temporal scanners on people. Why would you? It was several years before anyone realized that I don’t age, including me. People kept telling me that I looked so young, but really, who would guess? Life gets rough for me. Very rough. There’s Torchwood. I lose you. Torchwood again. I lose my Mum. I lose you again... I’m back to where I should be now – with you. But now you’ve been taken by the Master, and I can’t bear to lose you again. I can’t. I need you to stop doubting me and help me find my Doctor.”

“Just one more. Just one last question. How old are you?”

“Hard to say, but I think about 200.” Rose shrugged indifferently. “Does it make sense now how I know so much? What’s more, does it make sense that the Master admires me? He loves power. He looked into the vortex through the Untempered Schism and it drove him mad. I looked into it, stole it, wielded it, and lived to tell the tale.”

“It’s dangerous, Rose,” the Doctor said sternly. “You can’t-“

“It’s forbidden,” Rose cut him off. “It’s not a play thing. No one has the right to play with that kind of power. I don’t intend to do it again. I don’t want power. I have no interest in it at all. I just want to live my life beside you. Help me save you. I can’t do it alone.”

The Doctor pulled Rose into a hug and kissed the top of her head. “Let’s go break into Torchwood.”

Rose took his hand and he smiled down at her. When they walked back into the console room, Sarah-Jane and young Rose looked at them expectantly. When Sarah-Jane took notice of their clasped hands, she smiled. “Looks like everything’s cleared up then.”

“Yep,” said the Doctor. “Completely my mistake.”

“But you said-” started young Rose.

“My mistake,” the Doctor repeated. “Absolutely you.”

“Oh god, Jack!” older Rose exclaimed. She ran to the monitor and saw that Jack had prompted her several times. Over and over it read ‘Rose?’

“Jack, are you still there?”

“Rose, what happened? Are you alright?”

“Slight issue, but cleared up now. Sorry.”

“Congratulations. You are official Torchwood One employees.”

“Really?!”

“You have new names and access codes. You have positions in the archive which give you access to many parts of the building.”

“Won’t we need badges? How do we go about getting some?”

“I can send information directly to the TARDIS you’re in. You are doing this from a TARDIS, right?”

“Yes. Jack, you are amazing!”

“I’ll send it over in a second. Warnings: Psychic paper will not work. I know it’s risky to go without devices, but it’s likely more dangerous to bring them. You might be better off taking weapons from the archive if you need them.”

“Jack, I could kiss you!”

“I wish you would. You have to stop by sometime.”

“I hope someday I can repay you. Thank you so much.”

“Anything for you, Rose. I’ll send the files over now.”

“Alright,” Rose told the Doctor. “Here it comes.”

“Here what comes?” asked the Doctor.

“You and I are official employees of Torchwood.” She smiled mischievously. The first file appeared on the screen with a photo of Rose. It was her employee profile with her personal information and attached were official medical exams.

“Jackie Smith,” the Doctor read aloud. “Putting your Mum and Mickey together?”

“I’m sure he wanted to use something I’d remember and respond to. How about you?” Rose pulled up the Doctor’s profile. Next to his photo was the name…

“Mickey Tyler?! You’ve got to be kidding me!” the Doctor shouted in disbelief.


	5. Chapter 5

“It looks like our plan is coming along nicely,” Rose said with a grin as the TARDIS produced her Torchwood badge.

“Nicely for you,” younger Rose said petulantly. “I have to stay in the TARDIS.”

“Meeting up with yourself is a time loop. That means that at one point, I was the one waiting here while future me went through hell. Which means at some point you’ll be the one walking into a death trap.” Older Rose chuckled as she thought it through.

“So does that mean this works?” asked younger Rose. “This Doctor has to survive to become the older Doctor.”

“Nope,” the Doctor answered. “Death is definitely a possibility, but it’s a possibility that I don’t really fancy. We’re going to try not to do that.”

“Yeah, I don’t really feel like dying either,” older Rose agreed, “but there’s no way we’re handing a TARDIS over to the Master. Who knows what that madman would do.”

“That’s something I’ve been thinking about,” said Sarah-Jane. “If this Rose and I are in charge of the TARDISs and the inhibitor, how do we protect both ships _and_ control the inhibitor? If she has it and the Master comes for the TARDIS I’m in. How will she know when to turn it off? The inhibitor completely shuts down the TARDIS, right? That means no defenses whatsoever. The Master could just walk right in.”

“Well, that’s fixed easily enough,” older Rose stated. “We just take my Doctor’s TARDIS somewhere else. Mars maybe? Far away and currently uninhabited.”

“Can you fly it?” asked the Doctor.

Rose smirked. “Of course.”

“Alright. Both TARDISs rendezvous on Mars, Rose hops in mine, and we come back here. When we head off to Torchwood, my Rose and Sarah-Jane can guard this TARDIS and the inhibitor together. Nice fix.”

“And where in the plan does that happen?” asked young Rose.

“No time like the present,” the Doctor answered.

“Okay. What coordinates?”

The Doctor sent the coordinates to the other TARDIS and Rose raced over to that TARDIS to ready it for flight. The TARDISs landed side by side and Rose raced back to the other under the cover of the TARDISs’ extended oxygen fields. Once back on Earth, their planning continued.

“Okay,” said the Doctor. “We’re dressed and have our badges. We-”

“Sorry to interrupt,” younger Rose chortled, “but I just have to say, you look hilarious, _Mickey Tyler_.”

The Doctor was dressed the same as usual except that his leather jacket was substituted with a white lab coat. Rose wore a matching lab coat, both of them with a Torchwood ID badge clipped to the left side.

“Thank you, Rose,” he deadpanned. “I’m glad I amuse you. Now… both of us have quite grudgingly relinquished the sonic screwdrivers. We’ve memorized the access codes. The only helpful tool we have is Rose’s mobile, right?”

Rose nodded.

“It’s charged and has Sarah-Jane’s number on speed dial?” he checked.

“Yes.”

“And, Sarah-Jane, your mobile is charged? Not silenced or anything?”

“All set, Doctor.”

“Okay, I think we’re ready. This Rose and Sarah-Jane guard the TARDIS. You wait for our call and turn off the inhibitor the second we ask. OR if the Master shows up. Keep your eyes peeled.”

“Yeah, but you haven’t told us when to turn it on,” young Rose pointed out.

The Doctor and older Rose looked at each other in thought. They hadn’t discussed that part yet.

“What do you think?” asked Rose. “It kind of depends on where the Doctor is right now, doesn’t it? If he’s hidden away it might be best to leave him be so he doesn’t attract attention. But if they have him and he’s helpless, it would be best to turn it on now, right?”

“He’s me. I wouldn’t want to be helpless either way. Turn it on now,” the Doctor ordered.

Young Rose flipped the switch on the machine and the TARDIS suddenly went dark. “Well, this is going to be fun,” she grumbled. “Sitting in the dark for ages. By the way, how are you going to get there?”

“I already offered him my car,” Sarah-Jane informed her. “I just beg, please be gentler with my car than you are with your TARDIS.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Don’t act surprised,” older Rose told him. “Your driving record is no secret. Now come on. We’re wasting time.”

* * *

Rose couldn’t help glancing at all the cameras she saw as they walked up to the building. They were all around.

“You’re sure they don’t know this face?” the Doctor asked her quietly.

“I think they were surprised by my Doctor’s face and he was the reason Torchwood was started. They only knew him because he arrived in the TARDIS.”

“So if they do find him, they won’t recognize him as the Doctor because your first visit was after this time?”

“We didn’t arrive until June of this year, but they wouldn’t recognize this Doctor anyway because he has a different face from the last,” Rose explained.

“Wait, you’ve had two more since me?” he asked in surprise.

“I was separated from you for a long time. And Torchwood was the reason,” Rose said bitterly.

“How long?” asked the Doctor.

“For me? 37 years. For you? You lost count, but by my calculations it was about 70 years.”

“What happened? What did Torchwood do?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“No. Tell me.”

“You don’t want to know.”

“I do.” His jaw was clenched and his eyes dark.

“You can’t walk into Torchwood looking like that. You need to-“

The Doctor stopped walking and turned her to face him.

Rose sighed heavily. “You can’t do this. If I tell you, you’re going to go all Oncoming Storm. Seriously, you can’t walk in there like this. Take a few deep breaths and pull yourself together.”

“It was that bad?”

“It was over a century ago. I put it behind me. I hate Torchwood more than anything is this universe and the next, but I can’t go in there dwelling on that stuff. Neither can you. Put on a smile. I don’t care if it’s forced. Smile, be kind, and let’s get this over with. Alright?” The Doctor still looked severe. “ _Alright_?”

The Doctor closed his eyes and tried to pull himself together. It took a lot of effort, but he forced a smile. It was pathetic, but Rose thought it would have to do. She started walking toward the entrance and the Doctor walked at her side. As soon as they stepped in, they were greeted by a security check point. The Doctor went through one side and Rose took the other. There were security guards on both sides of the metal detector. Rose scanned her badge and typed in her access code. She handed over her mobile when prompted and watched as it was handed to someone who scanned it thoroughly with a few different devices. When he nodded, Rose was patted down then sent through the metal detector. She was then thanked and given her phone back.

“You weren’t kidding when you said security’s tight,” the Doctor said as he glared over his shoulder at the check point.

“Just be glad they don’t do a body scan. Imagine them finding someone with two hearts,” Rose whispered.

“Okay, got your phone?”

Rose handed her mobile to the Doctor and he started pulling up applications. Rose watched as he pulled up the building layout and started scanning through floors.

“Start at the basement. That has the archive vaults. Loads of things no one understands. The Master would find lots of toys to play with. That’s my guess.”

The Doctor had been doing as she suggested and before she had finished speaking, he found the Master. Each dot was a person and every dot on the screen could be highlighted to show their cardiograph. The Master’s two hearts stood out. He was on the basement level in one of the research rooms. Or was that the Doctor? The Master wouldn’t be far from him, would he?

Rose pointed out a dot in the corner of the screen. She was having a hard time breathing but still managed to speak. “That heartbeat is in the morgue. Check that one.”

The Doctor highlighted it and there was another cardiograph of a person with a binary vascular system. “The morgue isn’t a promising place, but his hearts are still a steady pace. The question is, which do we deal with first?”

“What kind of question is that? The Doctor,” Rose said firmly.

Rose fidgeted anxiously as they took the lift down and her heart began racing as they walked down empty hallway. They were getting close.

“Do you think our badges will work for the morgue?” asked the Doctor.

“They will. We have level 3 clearance.”

“You’re awfully confident,” he commented.

“I think you mean knowledgeable,” she corrected. “I know that the morgue is level 3 access. It’s not a guess.”

Nothing in that building was a guess to her. She knew Torchwood like the back of her hand. She worked for Torchwood in Pete’s World for nearly seven years. That was until she turned into their prize alien specimen. It was forty-three days of torture before she was rescued. From that day until this, she’d managed to keep away from them.

Rose scanned her badge, typed in her code, and entered the morgue with the Doctor. As soon as they walked in, they heard a pounding from inside one of refrigerated drawers. Rose rushed over and quickly opened it. The Doctor’s head poked out and Rose couldn’t be more relieved. She had feared that he might have regenerated before the artron inhibitor was activated. He was her same Doctor.

“Rose?” he asked in confusion. “Why am I in a morgue?”

“You have a lot of catching up to do,” she chuckled.

“Is that me?” he asked, looking at his younger self. He took hold of the cupboard and slid the bed out of the drawer so he could sit up. “That _is_ me. What are you doing here? And what am I doing here? Why are we here? Where _is_ here?”

“One question at a time, love.” Rose kissed his cheek and helped him down. “You have no idea how worried I was.”

“Thank you, but that doesn’t answer any of my questions,” he pointed out. “I was standing next to the museum and woke up in a morgue.”

“The morgue at Torchwood,” Rose specified. The Doctor scowled, but Rose didn’t give him time to respond. “It gets worse. You were brought here by the Master.”

“How did he get out of the time-lock?” he asked angrily.

“We haven’t got a clue. He just showed up at Sarah-Jane’s and-”

“Sarah-Jane’s? What were we doing at Sarah-Jane’s?”

“Time stopped, remember? When you tried to take the artron energy out of that thing, you froze. I couldn’t take you or the artifact in the TARDIS so I called Sarah-Jane for help. When we got there, this Doctor and younger me showed up. Then the Master showed up. He took you hostage. He wants a TARDIS. He said he wouldn’t fix you or give you back unless we gave him one.”

“So how did I get fixed?” he inquired.

“Artron inhibitor,” the other Doctor answered.

“Right now? All of us? The TARDISs?” he worried.

“Believe me, none of us like it, but we did what we had to,” the other Doctor responded.

“But what if the Master gets there first? What if he’s there now?” the bowtie Doctor insisted.

“He’s here,” Rose told him. “Apparently, he works for Torchwood. And the other Rose and Sarah-Jane are in the TARDIS with the inhibitor. One word from us and they turn it back on. So… the Master’s here. We can’t just leave him with that toy.”

The younger Doctor still had Rose’s mobile and led the way toward the Master’s dot. If he knew they were there, he wasn’t showing any signs of it. When they stopped outside the door, Rose used her badge again to enter.

The Master sat behind a desk, fidgeting with some sort of device and looked up in surprise. “Well, I asked you to come visit, but I didn’t expect you this soon. Care to-” The Master’s speech cut off when he caught sight of the bowtie Doctor. “Well, how did that happen? You really are full of surprises.”

The Master stood up to face them. “How interesting. How very interesting. How could you remove the artron energy? Don’t worry, you don’t have to answer.” The Master raised his laser screwdriver and pointed it at the bowtie Doctor. “See, I have my theories already. If any of you move, I might have to test that theory. Come here, Wolf.”

“Don’t move, Rose,” the two Doctors chorused.

“Do you really think she’ll listen to you?” The Master laughed. “This little, self-righteous human god would do anything to keep you safe. She either walks across the room or her dear Doctor dies. A few short steps or she lives the rest of her long, long life alone. And you think she’ll listen when you say ‘don’t move’? You, Doctor, are a laugh. Let me try again. Come here, Wolf.”

Rose was stiff as she took one step forward. “Wait. First, you have to promise not to hurt them.”

“You won’t really believe me if I say it, but if it makes you feel better: I won’t hurt them if you just come here. How’s that?”

Rose glared at him and made no move in either direction.

“Okay, if it’s a promise you want: I promise to kill them both if you don’t get over here. How’s that?” The Master grinned. “You know it will happen, too. No regeneration because the artron’s off,” he said with a sing-song voice. “Oops. You didn’t want me to know that, did you? Makes for a nice game. Hold it, Big Ears!”

The Master pointed the laser screwdriver at the other Doctor when he moved to take something from his pocket.

“Okay, Wolf, last try. You have just five seconds to get over here. One… Two…”

Rose submitted and walked over to the Master. He reached in his desk drawer and took out a high-tech set of handcuffs. “Look what I have here. Strange place to find those, don’t you think? Torchwood thinks it’s so secure. Put them on one wrist then put your hands behind your back.”

The younger Doctor rushed forward, but the Master put the laser screwdriver to Rose’s head. “Back where you were.”

When the Doctor was back in his place, the Master pointed the screwdriver back at the bowtie Doctor. Rose already had one wrist cuffed and both hands were behind her back. With one hand, the Master closed the cuff around her other wrist.

“Good, good. Just one last thing.” The Master reached for the phone on his desk and hit a red button and three numbers.

Red lights started flashing on the walls and a voice spoke through the phone speaker. “What’s the emergency?”

“Intruders! Oh, and you’ll love this one – It’s the Doctor! _The_ Doctor!”

“The Doctor?!”

“Yes and another one like him. They have two hearts! Both of them! They said so themselves. You better hurry. They’re fast.” He turned off the speaker and turned to the Doctors. “Oh, I think now would be a fun time to remind everyone that my laser screwdriver is powered by an artron crystal. Completely useless right now. Been fun!”

The Doctors both rushed forward, but the Master used his teleport device and he and Rose were gone. The younger Doctor immediately took Rose’s mobile out of his pocket and speed dialed Sarah-Jane.

“Now! Do it now! Now!” the Doctor commanded.

“Now, Rose!” Sarah-Jane shouted. “Okay, Doctor, the power’s on. Are you-?”

“Gotta go!” the Doctor shoved the phone into the pocket of his lab coat and looked at the other Doctor.

“So,” said the bowtie Doctor. “How’re we getting out of this one?”

Armed guards in military uniform rushed into the doorway and both Doctors backed away with their hands up.

The younger Doctor glanced down at the desk and smirked. “Easy.”

He reached down quickly and put his hand on the golden artifact that the Master had kept on his desk. All the guards froze.

“Genius and stupid,” said the bowtie Doctor. “Now how do we get back to Sarah-Jane’s if cars and buses won’t work?”

The other Doctor wore a forced awkward smile. “Didn’t think of that.”

“They have to have a gadgets room.”

The Doctors pushed past the frozen guards and looked up and down the hall. The younger Doctor saw a sign on the wall that pointed the direction of the archives. Together they ran and they searched.


	6. Chapter 6

Rose and the Master appeared on the pavement just a short ways from the TARDIS. The Master ran for it, dragging a struggling Rose behind him. He tried the handle and when that failed, he kicked at the door a few times, expecting it to give. He reached into Rose’s shirt and then her pockets.

“I told you I don’t have a key!” she shouted.

“Then open it!” he demanded.

“I can’t! That’s the old one and it needs a key!”

“Yours then! Where’s the other one?”

“On Mars. We weren’t going to let _you_ take it.”

The Master took out his laser screwdriver and shot the lock with it. “Damn it! The artron’s back on!”

He paused a moment then smirked and waved at the TARDIS. “Someone’s in there, isn’t there? Probably two someones. I bet you have the order not to open the door under any circumstance. But what about this circumstance?”

The Master shoved Rose up against the TARDIS and gripped her by the throat. Rose couldn’t breathe and couldn’t speak. She wriggled and struggled under his tight hold.

The Master spoke to the TARDIS again. “Is it worth it? The death of Rose Tyler? That is your other name, right, Bad Wolf?”

Young Rose and Sarah-Jane were watching on the TARDIS monitor and looked at each other, panicked and helpless.

“We can’t open the door,” said Sarah-Jane, “but there’s got to be something! We have to have something!”

The Master cried out and both women looked at the screen again. The Master had released her and was wincing in pain.

“Oh, now that was clever,” the Master sneered. He stepped up and punched her across the cheek.

Rose tilted her head down, fighting against the throbbing pain, and then called out suddenly. “Don’t open the door! Whatever happens-“

The Master pressed the front of his body against hers, pinning her against the TARDIS again. “No remorse? No remorse at all. You shoot me in the leg with a laser and pretend nothing even occurred. Out of curiosity, how did you manage to get that into Torchwood? A compact laser delux? No matter, I’m just proud to see that you did.”

Rose was trying not to look at him, but he lifted her chin and smiled down at her. “You’re not like all the Doctor’s other pets. No, see, I like _you_. All those other ones? They might stand up and put up a little fight. But you’re bigger. You’re dangerous. You’ve got fire. You shot me without a second thought and no remorse. You even planned ahead. You-”

“Rose! Type TYRD156-” Rose was silenced when the Master covered her mouth with his hand.

“Oh, it’s not polite to interrupt. I’m complimenting you and you’re trying to chat with your friends? Listen to me. You’re special. Far too special to be someone’s pet. He might call you friend. For all I know, he might call you more than that, but don’t let him fool you. Who’s in charge? Who’s _always_ in charge? How many times has he given you orders? How many times has he commanded you to ‘heel’? He dissuades you from violence and you suffer for it. Why? So he can play your hero. You think he doesn’t look for power, but what is it that he does? He travels the universe ordering people to live in the way he thinks is right. He’ll choose a side that he likes and do whatever it takes to make them the victors. He shapes the universe to his own design. He acts humble, but his influence rules over hundreds of planets. He-”

Rose had relaxed and waited patiently while the Master spoke. When she felt his hand loosen just enough, she turned her head. “7124 enter! Then-”

The Master’s hand was over her mouth again. Young Rose and Sarah-Jane stared at the screen in frustration. They managed to enter everything she said, but she was cut off again.

“What do we do?” asked young Rose. “Type it in, press enter, and then what? What do we hit?”

Sarah-Jane was looking around the console just as Rose was, trying to look for a clue for what to press. They were hoping for a blinking button, but there were a few of them.

“Tsk, tsk. I’m trying to talk to you. Are you listening at all? Do you understand me at all? _Really_ understand me?” The Master slid a finger under her shirt and gently ran it along her waistline and up her side. “I’m extending you an offer, my beautiful Bad Wolf. You may not admit it, but you like power, too. You devoured all of time to grant your every wish. You have the drive to go after whatever it is you desire. You relish the freedom you have to go wherever and whenever you like. If helping people is what you want to do, then do it, but let yourself make the decisions. Travel with me. I don’t do pets like the Doctor. We could travel as equals. No one to hold you back. No one to order you around. You and me together. The universe is ours. I’m not talking a piece here and a piece there. Our names will travel from planet to planet and galaxy to galaxy. Whatever you want is yours. _Anything_.” The Master leaned in and whispered seductively in her ear, “We could be gods.”

He placed a kiss on her neck and Rose squeezed her eyes shut, humiliated and desperate to escape.

“What do you say? Travel with me. If you don’t like it, I’ll drop you wherever you’d like. You’ll love it though. I promise you that. Power and freedom like you’ve never had before. You’ll be recognized as the goddess you really are. Come with me.”

Slowly, the Master took his hand away from her mouth to hear her reply.

“Red button on the column! Red button on the column!”

“Wrong answer. Little Wolf, what am I-“

The Master fell silent and so did Rose. Young Rose and Sarah-Jane had found the red button on the console and whatever it did caused the Master and Rose to collapse onto the pavement.

“Oh god,” young Rose panicked. “What did that just do? What did we do? We didn’t just… Tell me we didn’t…”

“I don’t think Rose would sacrifice herself.” Sarah-Jane to have confidence in that belief, but the truth was, she wasn’t sure how far Rose would go.

They both stared at the monitor.

“I wish we could open the door to check,” young Rose worried.

“I think they’re alright. They have to be.”

“But how do we know?”

“The Master would regenerate.”

“And me? I’d just be dead?” Rose’s thoughts immediately turned to her mum and how she would take it. “How do we know? How long does regeneration take?”

“A few minutes.”

They continued staring at the screen. Suddenly, the two Doctors appeared a short ways down the walk. The second they saw Rose and the Master, they rushed toward them.

The younger Doctor immediately searched for Rose’s pulse. “She’s fine.”

“So is he,” the bowtie Doctor said bitterly. “But wait, blood. Whose blood?”

“It’s on both of them,” the other Doctor answered. They rolled the Master and Rose apart. Both of them had blood on their thighs from the way the Master was pressed up against her. “It’s his. It’s the Master’s. Rose looks fine… nearly fine.”

Both Doctors noticed the marks around her neck and a bruise forming on her cheek. They glared at the Master.

“Cuffs. We’ve got to get the cuffs off Rose.” The bowtie Doctor turned to speak to the TARDIS. “Hello in there. Think you could toss us a sonic screwdriver? Make it a fast toss and close the door again.”

There was the briefest glimpse of Sarah-Jane and a sonic screwdriver landed on the ground in front of the younger Doctor. Both Doctors winced when it hit the ground. There wouldn’t be a single scratch, but they treasured it enough to feel pain at its abuse.

“I did say a fast toss, didn’t I?” the bowtie Doctor grimaced. “Alright. Undo the cuffs and we’ll get the Master secure.”

The Doctors worked together to free Rose and put the cuffs on the Master.

“Search him and keep him out here,” the younger Doctor ordered as he lifted Rose in his arms. “I’m taking Rose inside. Erm, think you could open the door?”

The bowtie Doctor snapped his fingers and the TARDIS door opened. The younger Doctor was stunned dumb and the bowtie Doctor gave him a smug smile.

“She was serious,” the younger Doctor said in astonishment.

“Safer than keys. Anyone can steal a key and use it. The TARDIS knows who’s allowed in,” the bowtie Doctor explained. “Now get her inside.”

As soon as the younger Doctor entered with Rose in his arms, Sarah-Jane ran over to them. “Is she alright?”

“She’ll be fine. What happened?”

“Uh, he wouldn’t let her talk, but she managed to yell out this code in pieces so we did what she said,” young Rose answered. “We have no idea what it did. They just collapsed.”

“Yeah, the code started something like: TYRD and then some numbers,” Sarah-Jane said helplessly. “Is she really alright?”

“Yeah. It’s a TARDIS defense code. Anything touching the TARDIS gets sort of a shock. Not electric, just a pulse that knocks them out for awhile. I’m still going to take her to the infirmary though. She still needs a bit of patching up.”

“We’re sorry,” Sarah-Jane said miserably. “It was awful to see her being treated so horribly, but we were afraid to open the door to go help her. We didn’t want the Master to-”

“No,” he said firmly. “I’m sure it was horrible to watch, but you did right in not opening the door.”

The two women nodded.

“He’s bound up,” the bowtie Doctor announced as he came back in. “For extra precaution, I tied his shoelaces together.”

The younger Doctor rolled his eyes and headed to the infirmary.

“How are you two?” the bowtie Doctor asked them.

“We’re fine,” Rose answered quietly. They still looked shaken up by what had just happened.

“Good. Excellent work. Really, we’re very thankful. Things were getting pretty close. We’d have been doomed without you,” the Doctor commended. “I’m sure you’re very sick of waiting, but if you don’t mind waiting a few more minutes, I’d be grateful. I have to go check on my Rose and the other me. Oh, but first…” he stepped up to the monitor and typed in a quick code. “Same code you used. That pulse usually knocks people out for at least half an hour. Sometimes as long as two hours. Him though…” The Doctor glared at the screen. “He never stops surprising me. If he starts waking, just hit the red button again.”

The Doctor left the room and made straight for the infirmary. “How is she?”

The younger Doctor looked up. “He gripped her throat pretty tightly. It’ll hurt for awhile, but there’s nothing we can do to help that other than pain relief. This bruise on her face looks pretty bad, but no fractures and we can take down the swelling. I just hate that she had to suffer this. And from him. He’s not even supposed to be alive. And he’s regenerated again. I thought he was out of regenerations.”

“They gave him one more so that he could fight in the Time War, remember? Who knows how many he has now,” the bowtie Doctor said miserably.

“What do you mean?” the younger Doctor worried.

“Well, who’s in charge of distributing regeneration energy?”

“Rassilon and the High Council.”

“But they’re not around anymore. So what must have happened to the regeneration energy after the Moment?”

The younger Doctor looked horrified when the thought came to him. “It scattered.”

“Scattered, but I think most of it was just around the edges. I think I, er _you_ , and the TARDIS attracted and absorbed most of it, if not all. Unintentionally, of course. But of course you know it was unintentional, because you haven’t figured it out yet. The Master was under the chameleon arch at the end of the universe when it happened so I don’t know if he got any of it. Possible, but unknown.”

“How much did we take in? I never even considered it.”

“I did some self-searching and calculations, but you’re not going to like it.”

“Centuries of more suffering…” the younger Doctor said miserably.

“We’ve got the chance of 507 more regenerations. I say ‘chance’ though. You know how it is. We don’t _have to_ regenerate.”

“She can regenerate, too, can’t she?” the younger Doctor asked as he looked down at Rose.

“Yes.”

“Centuries of more suffering for her. Life could never be more unfair.”

“To her, no. But us? We’re selfish enough to appreciate that she can stay with us,” the bowtie Doctor confessed.

“We’re without each other for a long time though, aren’t we? She said it was Torchwood. What did they do to her? She wouldn’t say.”

“No, she definitely wouldn’t say. She doesn’t like to talk about it, doesn’t want to remember. Selfish me again – I’m glad she doesn’t. It tears me to pieces.”

“What though? Don’t tell me that I don’t want to know because I do.”

“You don’t,” the bowtie Doctor disagreed. “Torchwood saw her regenerate. I’m sure you can guess the rest.”

“But she hasn’t regenerated.”

“No. She didn’t know what was happening and accidently killed someone she loved by forcing that energy into them. Torchwood saw it. They studied her. They killed her again and again just to see and study the energy. Just before she changed, they’d restart her heart, nurse her back to health, and start again.”

The younger Doctor was furious. “And where were you during this?!”

“She was in a parallel universe. I couldn’t get to her without destroying both universes. I didn’t know about her regeneration ability. I thought she’d be safe.”

“How’d she get to a parallel universe?!”

“Torchwood. On June 28th, 2007, they pull something awful. They rip a hole through the void and Rose gets sucked in. Well, almost sucked in. She’s saved by something called a dimension hopper. It sends her to the parallel universe.” The bowtie Doctor was too ashamed to explain that she made it back to him and he dropped her back off. He’d never stop regretting it and his previous incarnation would be livid. “When she says Torchwood was the cause of the worst times in her life, she means it.”

“I can’t believe this. My poor Rose.” The younger Doctor stroked her hair, wishing to ease the pain that she hid deep inside. “And _my_ Rose… that’s her future.”

“There’s nothing we can do to change it. Believe me, I’ve looked at every angle. It’s horrifying just to hear, but she claims that she’s never been happier than she is now… if that’s any consolation.”

The younger Doctor didn’t respond so the bowtie Doctor changed the subject. “If you’re going to look after her, maybe I’ll go prepare a place for the Master.”

“What are we going to do with him?”

“I’m not sure yet, but he needs to be restrained until we decide. I think the old zoo should do nicely.”

The younger Doctor treated Rose’s bruise, bringing the swelling down considerably. It was then at the stage where it looked greenish-yellow. I would only take a couple days to finish healing on its own. As soon as he finished, the bowtie Doctor returned.

“Ready to get the Master?” he asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 507 regenerations was a throwaway comment that the Eleventh Doctor made on Sarah Jane Adventures, but it made me think. It's not important, but an interesting possibility to consider (or instantly reject - your choice). It also made me wonder how many regenerations Rose has in this verse. The answer is that I have no idea. But it's worth noting that potential regenerations can be transferred from one person to another (like the Master always trying to steal the Doctor's). I'd hate for Rose or the Doctor to have a lot more regenerations than the other, having to live several lives without the other. However many regenerations they have, they'll transfer what they need to be there for one another.


	7. Chapter 7

The Doctors asked Sarah-Jane to watch over Rose in the infirmary and quickly went outside to retrieve the Master before he came to. They both felt relieved when they closed the door to the glass cage.

“Doctor?” Sarah-Jane called down the hallway.

The bowtie Doctor ran into the hall and the younger Doctor was with him. “What is it?”

“I just thought you should know that-“

“That I’m awake,” Rose said as she appeared down the hall behind Sarah-Jane. She was smiling brightly. “You put him in the zoo, didn’t you?”

Both men nodded.

“Well, he did say he wanted in the TARDIS,” she said in amusement.

The bowtie Doctor rushed toward her and pulled her into a tight embrace. “You are brilliant, you know that? Stupid, stupid, stupid for doing what the Master said, but still amazing.”

“Oh yeah? Well, who was stupid, stupid, stupid for not remembering that his laser screwdriver was powered by an artron crystal?” she countered, playfully poking his side. “So what are we going to do with him?”

“I say we call a meeting for that,” the bowtie Doctor suggested. “Whoever’s most creative wins.”

The group walked back to the console room and young Rose stood up from her place on the jumpseat.

“You alright?” she asked her older self.

“Of course. I’m always alright,” older Rose smiled.

“Yeah, I guess. It’s just the way he hurt you and what he said… I was just worried, I guess.”

“Come on, you’re tougher than that,” older Rose chuckled.

“Apparently,” younger Rose replied.

“Said?” asked the younger Doctor. “What did he say?”

All three women just shook their heads. Every one of them knew how hard the Doctor was on himself. If he heard the cruel description of him that the Master had told Rose, he would take it to heart.

“That wasn’t a yes or no question,” the younger Doctor persisted.

“He was a jerk,” older Rose told him. “He said some nasty things and invited me to travel with him. It’s like he said, he doesn’t take rejection well.”

“Is that why you shot him?” asked the bowtie Doctor.

“No, I shot him because he was cutting off my oxygen and I didn’t feel like dying today,” she replied. “It was a really tricky shot, too. My hands were bound so I had to wiggle to the side to take aim.”

“Wait, you shot him?” the younger Doctor asked in confusion. “That’s why he was bleeding? Where the hell did you get a gun? We went in unarmed and didn’t stop for weapons.”

Rose blushed. “I didn’t exactly go in unarmed.”

“Yes, you did. You had to. You said you only had your phone. You walked through the metal detector,” the younger Doctor argued.

“I had, erm,” Rose cleared her throat. “I had hidden a laser weapon.”

“Where?”

Rose looked down, her cheeks bright red.

“I said, where?”

“I think I can answer that,” the bowtie Doctor stepped in. He held up the weapon he’d found when searching the Master. “Compact laser delux. On rare occasions where she knows without a doubt that her life will be threatened, Rose sneaks in a weapon. She’s got a particular pair of knickers for just such an occasion. They hide metal from any detectors. She favors the compact laser delux for its size and power.”

“She sticks weapons in the back of her knickers?!” the younger Doctor shouted. “She had that in her knickers and that doesn’t bother you?!”

“Relax,” older Rose said quietly, still terribly embarrassed. “I always have the safety on and I only use it when there are no other options.”

“She learned it from Jack, you know. He’s a terrible influence.” The bowtie Doctor shook his head.

“I love Jack,” said young Rose.

At the same time, older Rose sadly said, “I miss Jack.”

“It doesn’t matter where she learned it. She’s lucky she had it,” Sarah-Jane defended her. “She could have died if she hadn’t used it. But let’s let that drop for now and focus on what we’re supposed to be doing. What do we do with the Master?”

“He was meant to die in the Time War,” said the younger Doctor. “Do we finish that?”

“I’d like to,” the bowtie Doctor admitted, “but there are no other Time Lords but us. Just the Doctor and the Master. I hate him, but can we finish him off? We used the Moment to save the universe. If we kill the Master, it’d be out of spite.”

“It wouldn’t be killing him because he’s someone we don’t like. It’d be justice for a mad, mass murderer that seeks to rule or destroy anything he comes across. The fact that he’s a Time Lord shouldn’t even be considered,” the younger Doctor argued.

“I don’t like the idea of murder either,” said Sarah-Jane, “but you have to think of all the times you’ve faced him. Sometimes you thought he was destroyed and he came back. Other times he just miraculously got away. I don’t like the idea of murder, but how else can we be sure that he won’t come back?”

“I know I don’t want to see him again,” said young Rose. “This time is enough for me. I don’t know what to do with him, but we have to make sure he can’t come back.”

Older Rose was the only one that hadn’t given an opinion and they all looked at her expectantly, but she didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t sure yet.

“What could we do?” she asked. “If we don’t kill him, what could we do?”

“I don’t know that there’s anything we can do to prevent him from coming back except to kill him,” answered the younger Doctor. “This Doctor and I just talked about it and we have no idea how many times he can regenerate. Anywhere we put him, he could live hundreds of years and then regenerate and live hundreds more. Regenerate and do it all again. There’s no way of telling how many times he can repeat that.”

“What about a pocket universe?” Sarah-Jane suggested. “There are lots of pocket dimensions, right? Instead of putting him in a prison or stranding him on a planet, could you exile him to a pocket universe?”

“What about other people in that universe?” asked young Rose.

“Pocket universes aren’t like parallel universes,” the bowtie Doctor explained. “They have different properties and laws of physics and time. There are a few that were created just to act as prisons.”

“That seems just as cruel though. Imprisoning him for thousands of years or killing him?” stated young Rose. “I’m not saying we shouldn’t. I’m just pointing out that it really isn’t more merciful. Right?”

Young Rose looked to her older self for her opinion. It was strange sitting in the same room as the person she would become and she looked for older Rose’s opinion, wondering how else she might change over her time traveling.

Older Rose just shrugged. She hadn’t been sure from the start, but the opinion of her younger self got her thinking even deeper.

Both Doctors looked a bit concerned. Rose never failed to give her opinion. The Doctor didn’t always let her opinion influence his, but he always valued her input.

“Rose?” the bowtie Doctor prompted.

“I don’t know,” she answered quietly. “Whatever you decide is fine. I just don’t know.”

Young Rose stared at her a moment before speaking to her. “He got to you, didn’t he?”

Older Rose shrugged again. “Really, it’s fine. Whatever you decide is okay.”

“Rose, don’t let him get to you like that,” Sarah-Jane said softly. “You know he was just trying to manipulate you. Don’t let his opinion become yours.”

“What? What opinion? What did he say?” the younger Doctor asked angrily.

Sarah-Jane and young Rose became silent again.

“Rose?” the bowtie Doctor prompted again.

Older Rose sighed and couldn’t look up at them. “He just painted a picture of me. I didn’t like it, but I can’t deny it. I just don’t think I can make a decision like that right now. I’ll be alright. I just gotta… I don’t know, figure myself out first.”

“That’s not you, Rose,” Sarah-Jane replied. “You know that’s not you.”

“Which part?” Rose asked.

“He made you out to be cruel and selfish. I don’t know you all that well, but it’s easy to see you don’t fit his description,” Sarah-Jane said kindly.

“And he was such an obviously good man that everyone voted him Prime Minister. Harold Saxon, currently campaigning. Honestly, I can’t deny anything he said about me,” she admitted. “Am I not spirited? What about the drive to do whatever is right in my own opinion? The choices I make when traveling, it doesn’t influence masses of people? Am I not selfish? I almost destroyed two universes just because I wanted to go home. Yeah, I was trying to save both universes, but I might’ve done it anyway just because I wanted the Doctor. I broke through the universes again 34 years later. And yeah, 34 _years_. I’m far older than that. I wanted so badly to stay with the Doctor that I stole the power of the time vortex to save him and change myself so that I could live long and regenerate. Reckless, dangerous, and merciless? I shot the Master with no remorse and without a second thought. We’re sitting around having a well thought out discussion on what should be done with him, when I would have likely killed him on my own if I’d had the chance. What did the Master say about me that wasn’t true?”

“Rose,” the bowtie Doctor said gently. He walked over to her and pulled her into an embrace. She fought against it for a second, but he didn’t let go and she stopped fighting it. She laid her head against his shoulder and accepted the comfort. “You are the least selfish person I know. You don’t make people do what you want; you help them see what they can do to make their lives better and happier. You save people who have lost hope and help people who are struggling. You reach out to them with compassion, even those who don’t deserve it. You tried to save a Dalek once. Do you remember that? You never give up just because something is hard. That is your spirit and the drive you have, and it’s not selfish; that’s selfless. You absorbed the energy of the time vortex without knowing what you were doing. You risked yourself to save me and save the universe from Daleks. You didn’t even know about your age and regeneration abilities until years later. You crossed the universes to save them. You crossed it again, but not until you were certain that it would do no damage. You’re reckless sometimes, I’ll give you that, but dangerous and merciless? Self-defense doesn’t count toward dangerous and merciless. You had that weapon the whole time we were in Torchwood. You had the opportunity to use it when the Master had no chance of regenerating. Why didn’t you? Because you don’t use it unless you absolutely need it. You are incredible, Rose Tyler. Don’t you dare doubt yourself and especially because of something the Master says. You got that?”

Rose nodded and slowly stepped back from him. Young Rose was staring at her in shock and confusion and her older self felt ashamed.

“Alright?” older Rose asked her apologetically.

“I don’t know,” young Rose admitted. “Are _we_ alright? You know, am I alright where you are now?”

“Yeah,” older Rose nodded. “At this point, yeah.”

“So,” said the bowtie Doctor, “we’ve talked things through a bit. What are the opinions now?”

“I still think I like the pocket universe,” Sarah-Jane told them.

“Yeah, I think I like that best, too” young Rose agreed.

The younger Doctor shrugged.

“Alright, looks like the pocket universe,” the bowtie Doctor declared. He then looked at older Rose. “That alright?”

She nodded in agreement.

“Now… which one?”

“If it’s pocket universe, I say the Divergent Universe,” said the younger Doctor. “It’s a large universe with many planets. Events progress from one movement to the next, but there is no such thing as time. You cannot jump back and forth through events. There is only the present. That, along with the powerful majority race the Divergence, should keep the Master from rising to power.”

“Yes, but can we access the Divergent Universe?” asked the other Doctor. “It was is Rassilon’s dungeon on Gallifr- Oh, but it wasn’t, was it?”

“Someone stole the Divergent Universe,” the younger Doctor reminded him as he jerked his head toward the back of the ship where the Master was restrained. “He released some of the Divergence against Rassilon and Rassilon then had to create a new Divergent Universe. The first one is-“

“Just past the time spiral. I don’t like crossing the time spiral,” the bowtie Doctor grimaced. “But I think you’re right; it’s the best option.”

“Alright, everyone hold on tight. This is going to get bumpy.” The younger Doctor smirked.

“Wait!” cried Sarah-Jane. “As thrilling as this has been, I think now would be a good time for me to step out.”

“Doctor.” Older Rose quietly motioned her Doctor over. “She knows too much about the future. She knows she meets me again, that I come back to stay, and she knows Torchwood is planning something in June. She can’t be allowed to remember.”

They both looked over at Sarah-Jane whose shoulders were slumped in defeat. “I’m not allowed to remember, am I?”

Older Rose shook her head sadly.

“Let’s go into your house. It will be easier,” the bowtie Doctor suggested.

“Wait!” cried Rose. “Can I see your mobile? Do you use its calendar?”

“Yes, I use the calendar,” Sarah-Jane answered as she handed over her phone. When Rose handed it back to her, there was a message on June 28th: Stay indoors! Friends, too. Stay indoors and hide!

“Do you think you’ll follow it?” Rose asked hopefully.

“With the crazy past I’ve had, I take warnings like that pretty seriously. Thank you. Take care, Rose.”

“You, too, Sarah-Jane. You’ll be seeing me again.” Rose waved as they went their separate ways.

As soon as she was back in the TARDIS, there was something she needed to remind the Doctor of. “So… one of you stopped time again, huh?”

The younger Doctor looked stunned. He had completely forgotten. He looked outside and saw stopped cars and a few frozen pedestrians. “I suppose we’ll have to fix that, won’t we?”

“How?” asked older Rose.

“I figure it’s best to just launch it.”

“Launch it?” asked young Rose. “Launch it where?”

“As far as we can send it,” the Doctor answered.

The Doctor went searching through the TARDIS and walked back outside with a metal rocket that was difficult to carry because of its size. Despite its size, it was quite light.

“Seriously? You’re going to launch it in that tiny rocket?” young Rose said incredulously.

“Well, we can’t take it in the TARDIS. The TARDIS won’t let us,” he reminded her.

“What she’s asking is how a puny little rocket like that is going to make it into space,” older Rose clarified.

The Doctor looked offended. “Into space? You don’t believe it will even make it to space? I’ll have you know, I’m aiming it for Jupiter’s red spot.”

“It’ll really make it that far?” young Rose asked skeptically.

“Just because humans need gigantic rockets and ridiculous launch pads to get something to space, doesn’t mean I do. Hand me the artifact, Rose.”

He didn’t specify which Rose and they both reached for it. They giggled and younger Rose took it to him. “Don’t you want to start time again before you put it in there?”

“If I start time first, then I’ll have to put it in after and touching it to do that will stop time all over again. We put it in, restart time, and launch it as far as we can,” he explained. “Go grab the inhibitor and get ready.”

“Wait!” shouted older Rose. “What about the Master? If we turn on the inhibitor, the TARDIS will shut down. What if he gets out?”

“Don’t worry. He still won’t get free. It’ll only be for a second and the zoo locks won’t open with zero power anyway. I used to keep wild animals in there. You think I’d use locks that could open just because of a power outage? Now, ready the inhibitor.”

Older Rose didn’t want to take the chance. She went back to keep an eye on the Master.

“Bad Wolf,” he greeted flatly. “The Big _Bad_ Wolf. Come back to deliver my sentence? What’s it going to be? Tar and feathers sound fun. I have a feeling you have a different sentence for me. Did you talk the Doctor into finally killing me? BANG! Or do you want the honor? If I get a choice, I’d rather it be you. I’d like to make it my last request even.”

Rose didn’t respond. She just stood there and stared.

“Maybe not here to deliver my sentence… Still thinking over my offer then?”

The room suddenly went dark.

“Wolf? Rose? Are you doing this?” he asked.

The lights came back on.

“Ah, just playing prison guard.” He nodded in understanding.

“Look,” he said conspiratorially. “If I can’t escape whatever fate you’ve decided, and believe me, I’ll try, I’d like you to give one thing a try. You may not owe me anything, but you owe it to yourself. One request. Travel alone for awhile. Give it a try. I’m not joking when I say you have the makings of a great one. Don’t let the Doctor hold you back. Travel alone for just a bit and see how much he really holds you back.”

Rose just stared. She wasn’t sure what to make of him. At first, she thought he really just wanted her along so she could become Bad Wolf again, but he was confusing her now. Even if he wasn’t around, he wanted her to go off and see how she fared on her own. She’d thought he was just trying to manipulate her when he told her what he thought of her. Did he really believe it? Maybe he just didn’t want her to be with the Doctor out of spite for either or both of them. Maybe he really admired her enough to wish she’d rule like he’d suggested. If he was going to be killed, he wanted her to do it. Why? Was he just ashamed to be defeated by the Doctor? He’d feel more proud by being defeated by the Bad Wolf? Or was it to prove a point to her? Prove that she really was merciless and would feel no remorse for the act.

“So many thoughts, Bad Wolf. That’s good. Keep thinking.”

The younger Doctor, back in his leather jacket, rushed in at that moment. “Rose, what are you doing here?”

“Trying to set me free!” the Master said with a manic grin. The grin fell as quickly as it came and he was irritable. “What do you think she’s doing? The power went out. She’s guarding me. She won’t acknowledge me, but she knows my last request.”

The Doctor guided Rose from the room and when they were back in the control room the bowtie Doctor was there, too.

“Time’s still flowing and the artifact is more than halfway to its destination,” said the Doctor in leather.

“It was a lot faster than I imagined,” young Rose acknowledged.

“Everyone ready?” asked the younger Doctor.

When they all affirmed, he threw them into the vortex. It was far worse than the ‘bumpy’ that the Doctor had warned them about, but they made it to a small lifeless planet just beyond the Time Lords’ forbidden time spiral.

“Time to fetch the prisoner,” the bowtie Doctor announced. “You girls might want to stand back. He’s likely to put up a fight.”

Both Roses stood on one side of the console and waited for the Doctors and the Master. The Doctors were positioned one in front and one behind and both were watching the Master suspiciously as he went compliantly. The Master suddenly stopped just before they entered the console room.

“Well, Bad Wolf?” he prompted.

“Don’t talk to her. Keep moving,” the Doctor in leather commanded.

“Come now, Bad Wolf,” he urged. The younger Doctor kept shoving him forward, step by step.

“What’s he talking about?” asked young Rose.

“His last request,” older Rose answered. “He gave me his last request.”

“You don’t get a last request,” the younger Doctor told him.

“What was it though?” young Rose inquired.

The Master stopped walking again and stared directly at older Rose. “They’ll let you if you ask.”

Older Rose stared at him another moment before answering. “He wants me to kill him.”

Both Doctors stopped to look at the Master in confusion.

“I’m near the door. They’ll deliver my fate as soon as we’re outside. What do you say? Will you be the one to do it?”

“You want to _die_?” the bowtie Doctor said incredulously.

“Better by her hand than yours.” The Master glared at both Doctors.

“We never said we were going to kill you,” the younger Doctor reminded him. “You’re going to the Divergent Universe.”

The Master looked horrified at first, but then a hint of a smile appeared in the corner of his mouth. Just before he stepped outside, he winked at Bad Wolf.

At that wink, Rose got a sick feeling that his escape might not be as impossible as they thought. That wink was the suggestion that she might see him again.


	8. Chapter 8

“Well, here we are. Mars,” the bowtie Doctor announced. “We saved the day, took care of the Master, and now it’s time for farewells.” He looked around at everyone and saw nothing but downcast gazes. “Sad? Is everyone sad? Why is everyone sad?”

“Farewells are hard,” answered young Rose.

“Yes, but it’s us and us,” the bowtie Doctor reminded her. “It’s not actually farewell. It’s Rose and the Doctor, and Rose and the Doctor. You’ve got your Doctor now and you’ll definitely see this me again. And of course you’ll always be you, so you can’t miss yourself. Nothing to miss.”

“Sorry, but before we leave, do you mind if this Doctor takes me to the infirmary?” asked older Rose.

“What’s wrong?” both Doctors quickly asked.

“It’s alright. I’m okay. It’s just… Do you mind?”

“No, of course not,” said the younger Doctor. They walked into the infirmary together and the Doctor immediately asked again, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just wanted a proper goodbye from you,” she confessed. “The younger me will eventually see that Doctor, but I don’t get to see you again.”

“But I’m the same man,” he reminded her. “Well, he’s a bit strange and that sort of scares me, but he’s still me.”

“That’s just it. I love you always, but you’re always a bit different. I miss you like this. I just wish I had a little more time with you.”

“I’m sorry, too. I’m going to forget all this. The young Rose I’m traveling with now, she’s amazing, absolutely incredible, but I wish I could remember this adventure or even just a sliver of it, to think about the mature, brilliant woman she becomes. You’re fantastic, Rose Tyler. Then, now, and always.”

Rose reached up and tenderly brushed his cheek. “I just wish you could remember that I love you.”

The Doctor blinked down at her, looking a bit nervous. “Love? Like _love_?”

Rose chuckled. “Surely, you must have guessed. You already love her now, don’t you? You’re still afraid, partly because she’s young, partly because she’s human, and partly because love is just scary. It doesn’t have to be scary though. She loves you, too. It’s just that she’s as scared and confused as you are.”

The Doctor just nodded.

“If it’s alright, I’m going to ask you to stop being scared for just a moment… After Bad Wolf, when the energy was put back, you locked away my memory of it… so I don’t remember when…”

“Remember when what?”

“The first time you kissed me. You made me forget. It was the only kiss I got from you when you were like this and you made me forget. It’s not fair.”

The Doctor swallowed hard, obviously nervous.

“Forget that you’re scared for minute? Know that I’ll love you and stay with you the rest of your life? Kiss me like you can keep me forever?”

The Doctor stared at her a moment and she saw hope and longing in his sad eyes. She gently stroked his cheek again and his eyes closed. Rose guided him to meet her. Their lips met and they stilled there. Warmth spread through their bodies at just that light contact. Rose kissed him again more firmly and the Doctor reciprocated. With each kiss, they desired another. The Doctor pulled her against him and her fingers ran through his short dark hair. He moaned into the kiss and found he was daring enough to run his hands up her sides and back down over her hips. Rose opened the kiss and their tongues touched tentatively. Inhibitions were quickly falling away and the kiss became more desperate. They both remembered that this one kiss would be the only one they’d get to share as they were now. The Doctor was even more daring, stroking his hands up her back beneath her shirt and running them back down to grip her bum. Rose moaned in pleasure and felt his excitement growing between them. She thought that they should stop. So did he, but neither of them could relinquish the other. Rose’s hands caressed his skin beneath his thin jumper all the way up chest.

“Hey, how are things go-” the bowtie Doctor stopped suddenly when he saw them and popped back into the hallway. “No, you’ve got to go back. You can’t see this. Very private,” he was presumably telling the younger Rose. There was a bit of arguing, but then the bowtie Doctor stepped fully into the room. “Rose Tyler, I thought there was a problem. You left us out there to wait just so you could seduce me? The me that has only just begun entertaining those kinds of thoughts?”

“Oh, I assure you he wasn’t just entertaining thoughts a second ago,” Rose teased.

“You are impossible. You know I’m all yours, but you can’t go seducing my past. That’s not how it’s supposed to work,” he admonished. “That me doesn’t get kissed. Well, he gives you a kiss once and Jack gives him a kiss. But he doesn’t get snogged and certainly doesn’t get that touchy-touchy business.”

“Is that supposed to dissuade me? Because really that just makes me think of how unfair that is. As sexy as he is, he receives no pleasure or recognition like that?”

“Sexy? I… We’re not… You shouldn’t be doing this and we’ve got to go,” he said sternly.

“Alright. Understood. Just give me a minute to say goodbye and we’ll be right out,” Rose replied.

The bowtie Doctor looked at her skeptically.

“We’ll be right out,” Rose assured him. The Doctor nodded and left.

Rose blushed as she looked up at the Doctor in the leather jacket. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get carried away like that. Really, I just intended a goodbye kiss.”

The Doctor just nodded, looking a bit uncertain again.

“Don’t go silent now. This is my goodbye,” she said anxiously. “I’m sorry. I guess it really wasn’t fair of me, but please don’t be upset with me. I-”

Rose was cut off when the Doctor pulled her to him again and kissed her passionately. Again, they were frantic for more and hands roamed quickly an intimately, but both pulled back before they got any more carried away.

“You’re really mine forever?” he asked hopefully.

“You know that we get separated, but even in that time, my heart’s all yours. When I find my way back to you… all yours. Always.” Rose caressed his cheek and gave him one last quick kiss. “Thank you for this.”

“I only wish I could remember,” he said mournfully.

“Since you won’t, I guess I could get away with this, too…” Rose smiled mischievously as she rubbed him over his trousers.

“Stop, I’m trying to fix that,” he grumbled.

“I wish I could help you fix it. You weren’t the only one entertaining those kinds of thoughts. Now or back then.”

Rose’s grin didn’t fade as they walked back toward the console room. The Doctor had to adjust his trousers a couple times and each time, Rose giggled. The second time she did, the Doctor smirked and pinched her bum.

“If I knew you could be so passionate and playful, I would have done that a lot, lot sooner,” she told him.

“Same.”

They must have looked like grinning idiots when they stepped into the control room because the bowtie Doctor sighed and rolled his eyes.

Young Rose looked at them curiously. “I thought something was wrong… but you’re smiling…”

“Just reminiscing on the way back out here.” Older Rose tried not to laugh. They’d been reminiscing about the last ten minutes or so. “No problems anymore though. He’s a good Doctor. Makes everything better.”

The bowtie Doctor huffed in frustration. “Can we go now?”

“Yes,” Rose answered, looking and sounding harassed.

“Alright. Good. Farewell, younger us.” The bowtie Doctor waved and stepped out of the TARDIS.

“Guess this it,” said older Rose. “You’re stuck with me, so you’re definitely going to be seeing me around. If there was only one thing you could remember from this meeting, I wish it’d be this: You’re perfect. Just as you are now. This you - you beat yourself up a lot. You shouldn’t. You’re _fantastic_.”

Rose waved to her younger self and turned to go. Before she could take her second step, the Doctor turned her back and gave her one last deep kiss to savor. Rose stepped back blushing.

“You weren’t supposed to do that out here,” she said bashfully.

“She’s going to forget anyway,” the Doctor smirked.

“In that case,” Rose stepped forward and gave him one last peck.

“Rose Tyler!” the bowtie Doctor scolded. “Did you not hear me before? I said no seducing younger me! And you’re doing it in front of younger Rose! You’re going to scare the hell out of her. Step away from Mr. Leather Jacket and get back in the right TARDIS!”

“You’re just jealous,” she told him.

“Yes, in fact, I am. He had his chance. You’re supposed to be with _this_ me now. So go home,” he said sternly.

“You might not remember this, Doctor, but I will. Always.” Rose turned and started walking away, but the younger Doctor still reached out and pinched her bum again.

“I said that’s enough!” the bowtie Doctor scolded him, too. The bowtie Doctor watched his Rose walk out the door then looked up at young Rose. “I’m sorry about them. It doesn’t matter how old you get, you never get any better at listening… but I guess I should admit, I’m not much better.”

Young Rose appeared utterly bewildered and looked from one Doctor to the other.

“Take care of her,” the younger Doctor ordered.

“You, too. She never stops attracting trouble.”

“Good to know.”

The Doctors waved to one another and each flew off with their Rose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea where this chapter came from! It doesn't fit the tone of the rest of the story at all. It must be the serious Nine/Rose shipper in me (I love Nine!). This wasn't really the ending I'd intended, but once I wrote it, I couldn't imagine anything else. If you liked it, I'm so glad! If it felt out of place and wasn't the ending you were hoping for, my apologies.
> 
> I'm going to start posting a new story in this series later today. If you're interested, it's called "Pupils in the Pliocene." Of course, that's the title even if you're not interested. ;)
> 
> Thanks for reading. I really hope you enjoyed it.


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